Where Are They Now?

Mary Godie, a 2011 graduate of the School of Communications, is a multimedia journalist for WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tenn.

Godie, whose job includes writing articles online to shooting her own news stories, describes her days as hectic. "A run down of my day consists of going to the morning production meeting, pitching my story idea, setting up the interview, driving out to my destination, going out with my camera, tripod, and microphone to shoot the interviews and get enough footage, writing and editing my story (which will air that same day), and having this all done for the 5 o'clock newscast," Godie said.

Godie has been at WBIR for three months, and within that time span has felt the rush that is associated with journalism. Over the summer, she was sent out to report on a story about a massive fire on a gravel road. She had to walk uphill for two miles in 100-degree weather while carrying all of her equipment. She had to conduct interviews and edit her package with one hour to get back to the studio and be ready to appear on camera. "Journalism is not pretty," Godie said. "I can't reiterate this enough, but if you are going into journalism to just be a pretty face on camera, get out now."

While at Howard, Godie took advantage of every career opportunity that she could. During her freshman year, she was a community reporter for Spotlight Network, which helped her become co-producer of a show her sophomore year. She was a member of the Texas Club, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Alpha Chapter, the School of Communications Student Council, Circle K, and the Howard University Association of Black Journalists, where she was president both junior and senior year. In addition to her lengthy extracurricular activities, Godie found the time to have seven internships while she was a student. She has worked in places from CNN's D.C. Bureau newsroom to COX's D.C. Bureau, where she was a freelance reporter her senior year.

"I attended Howard because of the opportunities that the journalism department and the city would offer me," Godie said. "I'm from Houston so I wanted to go to school in a big city that had an HBCU as well as enough journalistic opportunities."

According to Godie, the experiences she had at Howard were some of the best memories she has and she recalls two people that greatly impacted her life. "Carol Dudley and Phillip Dixon helped me so much while I was at Howard. From freshman year to senior year they where with me every step of the way," Godie said. Godie recalls going to Dudley, who is the director for the Office of Career Development for the School of Communications, for everything from "advice on organizations to join to help with my resume."

"Chairman Dixon really helped me with my Reporting and Writing class junior year. I'm sad to hear that he's retired but he made such a huge mark on my life. I'll never forget him," Godie said.

Because of Godie's impressive resume and hard work ethic, she was nominated to be a White House Correspondence Fellow. As a fellow, Godie got to attend a luncheon with White House Correspondents from major networks as well as the President's Correspondence Dinner. "That was honestly the best night of my life," Godie recalled. "It was so surreal! I got to meet the Obamas, have an award presented to me by the Obamas, and just being in the same presence as President Obama and the First Lady was mind blowing! Not to mention I got to meet a lot of A-list celebrities and journalists whom I admire."

Godie's time at Howard lead to her immediate employment after graduation. She attributes this to her motto of "putting work before play."

"People always tell you that Howard has a bubble, and it does. I enjoyed the Howard bubble while I was at school but honestly, you are at school to get your work done," Godie said. "Howard tries to prepare you for what lies ahead after graduation, but it is up to you to take advantage of internships and network."

"If I could give one piece of advice to present and future Bison," she said, "it would be to have as much fun as possible because the real world is no joke."